Immortals
by Saberpoint
Summary: Solitude is meant to be disturbed. Lonely people are meant to have company. And those who have lost the excitement in living are meant to find it again.
1. Starry Night

**Disclaimer: The following is a not for profit fan based fiction. The Predator franchise is property of 20th Century Fox. This literary work is written by the author for enjoyment and relaxation, and wishes to share their enjoyment of the Predator franchise with other.**

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><p>Chapter 1: Starry Night<p>

Stars are an interesting thing. Go, look up at the night sky. They fill mankind's mind with so many thoughts across the ages. At first superstition, mythology, imagination and wonder. They inspired mankind with stories of forces beyond their comprehension, used them to explain the natural world and gave them hope that a soul lived forever. Then observation and understanding, thus leading to navigation and exploration. With the heavenly bodies movements documented, mapped and named, mankind was able to navigate their lands and oceans. The burning lights in the dark guiding them to new lands and discoveries.

Now just before the start of the next millennium of human civilization they represented adventure and expansion. The phrase 'shoot for the stars' became a literal thing as mankind no longer needed to explore the universe through a telescope. Ships in the thousands cared the living creatures of earth beyond their original home out into the universe. Colonizing new worlds, discovering new pools of resources and further expanding humanity's knowledge of the universe.

For one human in particular the stars now represented escape. Boarding a ship alone with no real direction, they pointed at a spot of light and engaged the engines. The journey took over several centuries. The ship was falling apart underneath their feet from age. Finally crash landing on this habitable planet.

The stars were beautiful that night. They didn't know any of their names or even if they had been named yet. After living on earth for so long looking up at the night sky they would automatically look for a familiar constellation. Orion, the Ursa Major, Draco or maybe Aquarius. However, none of these groups of stars where in the sky above them. That gave a strange amount of comfort.

They had named some, using them for navigation as their electronics and technology ran out of power or fallen into disrepair. It had been a long time since they had only relied on the stars and their creator to guide their path. There was a blue star they had named 'behemoth' because it was the brightest and largest star. A line of seven stars above the southern horizon he called the 'lance'. A group of five stars that appeared just before dawn reminded them of a fish, deciding to call the constellation 'salmon'. However, right now it was a small constellation of 4 stars that held their attention. They'd called these four 'compass', they were almost evenly spaced from each other and were relatively close to the vertical axis of the planets rotation. They had been following them now for the past several months, giving them a direction for their path.

Without direction and purpose they tended to wander in circles. With a direction and no purpose they just wandered, it was enough for them to keep living.

They were in a good mood, as they watched the heavens turn around them, until one of the stars blinked out. Their eye was drawn to the sudden void in the night sky. They checked the surrounding stars for placement then looking at the void. One of their stars had just disappeared. They're mood slumped, something as long lived as a star had died that night.

They sighed closing their eyes. It was a quiet night. The wind wasn't blowing so the tall grass they were laying in didn't make a noise. No wild animals were about lurking for a late dinner. Not even an insect chirped or buzzed. The only audible noise was breathing from a lone human. The calm made their breathing slow, their mind became still, their consciousness slip to black.

Unfortunately, the chaotic universe decided roll the dice.

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><p>The hangar bay was a buzz with chatter as a ship was prepped for departure. One could have almost guessed that the entire station was there for the send off. As per tradition of their culture it was time for a group of unblooded to prove themselves. All of them had been trained by the best, all had been succeeded in surpassing the station's expectations and all were destined become leaders. All of them sons or daughters of leaders at the highest levels of their society.<p>

It was easy to spot the farewell committee as bearers and sires stood proudly patting their children on the shoulder. Even with the small possibility that some might not make it back alive it was a joyful sendoff. However, closest to the gangway stood a figure of tremendous power. The high matriarch of the entire station saying farewell to her only daughter and heir.

The high matriarch stood just under nine feet tall, towering over everyone in the hanger bay. Her body was a pillar of strength and power while remaining still beautiful and feminine. The silver colored armor she wore was heavily worn and scarred but shone with a bright luster. It was decorated with feather, scale, horn, fang and talon of her many kills from her helm to her saddles. Bright jewels were inlaid into her gauntlets and breast plate. The mask strapped to her belt bore that handy work of a master craftsmen with detailed engravings of great beasts. She held their family's ancestral war spear in her left hand, painstakingly scribed with runes telling of battles won long ago. Her right rested on her daughter's shoulder.

Her daughter was a younger and shorter image of herself. Her body stood strong while holding the deadly grace and energy of youth. Her silver armor was new with no tarnish or scars of battle. There were few things that accessorized her armor, as her adventures were few and kills fewer. The only jewel decorating her armor was one shaped in her family's crest. Worn proudly at the center of her breastplate. The only weapons she had was her blade gauntlets on both arms with a combi-stick on her back and two smart-discs on her belt.

"My daughter, you have passed all the trials and rights that our ancestors have required. Now you must pass one last test, to prove you are ready to share the mantle of leadership." The matriarch lifted the ancestral staff in her left hand bring it back down with weighted thud. "Your noble heart pumps the powerful blood of our family line. You will come back in victory."

"Yes, my bearer," her daughter bowed her head in respect. Still bowed the matriarch leaned forward to whisper in her ear.

"I expect you to come back with nothing less than a queen's skull on your shoulders." Her daughter's face turned up to be the proud smile of her bearer.

"Only one?" returning the smile in kind as she answered back. The two females shared eye contact before belted out in roaring laughter. A warrior at the top of the gangway called out that it was time to go. As the family's gave one last hug and piece of advice to their departing member.

"Be careful, my daughter."

"Live long, my bearer." With that the daughter placed the mask on her face giving one last bow before heading up the ramp. The nine other unblooded followed giving on last wave before disappearing into the ship. The gangway slowly retracted into the ship as the hatch began to close. The matriarch stood proud as her eyes darted between port holes looking for one last glimpse of her daughter. Finally, her eyes found her daughter. She could tell her daughter was smiling wildly with excitement behind the stoic mask.

"My love, be still. You will see her again," the matriarch did not look to who spoke to her. She now noticed that she was trembling from what she didn't want to acknowledge. Excitement, joy, pride... no, all these feelings she expressed freely. Under her happy disguise, deep down she was terrified.

"My husband, she is my only daughter among the sixty sons I've beared."

"I know, I know," her husband said softly, "but know she is your mirror imagine. She will not fail this trial."

"Yes," the matriarch said softly. A small grin formed at the corner of her mouth, "but she has your habit of getting into trouble."

"Then it's good thing she also has my charm to get her out of trouble." The comment sat on the air for a long while before any reaction came from the matriarch.

"I'd say it's your charm that gets you in trouble half the time," she chuckled as her husband joined her. Her laughter faded and a stoic face of a leader reemerged as her husband carried on chuckling. The matriarch turned to leave, but before she did she stood very close to her husband. Looking straight ahead, not looking down at the smaller male. She whispered in a low voice, "like how much trouble you're in when you come to bed tonight."

Her husband's laughter promptly stopped as he started to break into a nervous sweat with a happy smile. The matriarch smelling the perspiration rundown his face. She kept the stoic mask of a leader while smiling mischievously on the inside as she marched away. The husband stood there looking out the bay doors as he saw the last glint of the ship carrying their daughter off toward her hunt. "She'll come back safely," he thought to himself, "real questions is if I'll be here to greet her."

The ship caring the ten unblooded arching gently as the pilots put it on course to their destination. The peaceful exterior of the craft betrayed the truly chaotic and rambunctious inside. The unblooded where bouncing of the walls in excitement. Hooting and yelling at the top of their lungs. However, one remained ever stoic even in this atmosphere, the mask over her face helping tremendously to hide her excitement; her bearer had trained her well.

As she watched the station disappeared into the black. She leaned back in her seat looking ahead. She needed to sleep, it was a long journey to the hunting ground and she needed to conserve all of her energy. Concentrating she slowed her heart beat taking deep breaths. Putting in some ear plugs the noise of her fellow unblooded disappeared. Through years of meditation serenity came. Her breathing slowed, her mind was at peace, her consciousness slip to black.

Unfortunately, the chaotic universe decided roll the dice.

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><p><strong>AN: Hope whoever reads this has more knowledge about the Predator universe because I could use some help. I've read a few of the fics in the fandom and I've enjoyed a lot of them. However, even after that I can't figure out how authors name their characters. I know some of them are supposed to portray some sort of meaning, but to me a name is usually just a name. So do to my lack of competence in the field of Yautja names I'm asking to who ever is reading this to throw out some suggestions. I need about six to begin with; two feminine and four masculine. (FYI, the six names are all for the unblooded, matriarch daughter included. I'm not naming the matriarch or her husband yet, but you're welcome to suggest names for them as well.) So if you want to name a character in my story, please leave a comment or PM me. I doubt I'll start writing my next chapter until I've come up with some names.**

**Anyways, story has a mellow start, but its going to pick up really quick and earn that M rating. Grammar and spelling criticism is welcome as well as criticism about anything wrong with my Yautja society. Hope you enjoyed and I'll be seeing you all next chapter. Until then, Peace.**


	2. Crash

**A/N: Well here is chapter two. One thing I've found about Predator fictions is that some authors liked using the Yautja language. While it makes the reading more interesting it doesn't usually help the reader know what they're talking about unless they are a hardcore fan. Which I have to say I am not. So for those of you like me who are like... "What the hell is a dah'kte?"... in the middle of a story. Some of the words though are blatantly simple to translate, mostly their expletives. Anyways, here are some Yaujta words I'll be using this chapter to hopefully lessen the confusion.**

**kiandi amedha – hard meat, xenomorph**

**C'jit - shit**

**nok – unit of measure (13 inches)**

**dah'kte – wrist blades. **

**Akrei-non – bomb or explosive**

**sivk'va-tai - plasma caster/cannon **

**Paya – Goddess of Creation, conquering warrior**

**Cetanu – God of Death, the Black Hunter**

**kcud – looked for a Yaujta animal that was weak, didn't find one so "kcud" is "duck" spelled backwards, whatever.**

**Well that's it for now. Enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: The following is a not for profit fan based fiction. The Predator franchise is property of 20th Century Fox. This literary work is written by the author for enjoyment and relaxation, and wishes to share their enjoyment of the Predator franchise with other.**

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><p>Chapter 2: Three Days as Prey<p>

After their departure the unblooded Yautja settle down for the long voyage. While many stayed in the lounge area talking to each other a few journeyed to other parts of the vessel. Couple went to the armory to spar or maintain their weapons. Other went to the data core where they review the data on the planet they would be landing on. Many still had to much adrenaline pumping through their system to get any rest. One though was successful in finding their way to unconsciousness. One of their fellow unblooded noticed this with a mischievous grin. With extreme care they crossed the lounge area as quietly as possible as to not disrupt the sleeping target.

"Don't even think about it Hehtk'eki," the once sleeping Yautja growled.

"Jeez, you're no fun Ja'anya. For once, I'd like to catch you unprepared." Hehtk'eki gave a frustrated sigh and flopped in the seat across from Ja'anya.

"How did you know it was me?"

"You're the only one who would be stupid enough to try."

"Not stupid," Hehtk'eki clarified, "brave enough. Seriously everyone believes you're the perfect hunter, warrior, female, everything! I'm just waiting for the day when I can catch you in that imperfect moment."

"I know I'm not perfect. I have my flaws and weaknesses just like everybody else. I just do a good job working to over come them."

"Jeez, and humble. You're sure your bearer is the Matriarch? At this point you were a daughter of Paya."

"If I am indeed a demigod I'm not yet aware of my divinity. Though my abilities and conquest thus far have been blessed by Paya I did not inherit her beauty like you have." Looking at the two female Yautja there was quite a bit of difference in their physical appearance.

Ja'anya like her mother, the Matriarch, portrayed enormous amounts of strength. She didn't have an ounce of fat on her, the muscles on her arms, legs and abdomen had defined lines distinguishing one muscle from another. Her shoulders were just a little wider than her hips, giving her a rather masculine appearance. Ja'anya had a smooth forehead with small serrated ridge in the middle, ending in a point about the center. Small horns pointing away and up sprouted around the fringe above her dreadlocks. Both the serrated ridge and fringe horns characteristics of her heritage. The only defined female aspect she showed was having larger mandibles and higher cheekbones than her male counterparts. Her dreadlocks were bound together into a complex braid that reached to the small of her back. The only softness in her body was her thick skin that only softened her features slightly. Her skin pattern was mostly a brown-green color with darker brown splotches outlined in white randomly running across her body. Once when she was a pup, an older male once compared her pattern to a gecko. Thinking a gecko was fierce predator on a far off planet she took the comment as a compliment. After discovering a gecko was a small lizard-like creature that was considered a pet and practically harmless, she broke the male's arms in four places. Her armor was in a word was effective, offering the maximum amount of protection while not sacrificing mobility.

Hehtk'eki portrayed the ideal of Yaujta feminine beauty for their age. While Ja'anya demonstrated female strength, Hehtk'eki portrayed female grace. Her hips were wider than her shoulders with a gentle hourglass curve in her waist before arching up into her ribs. She did not have the muscular mass as her fellow pack sister, but she was no pushover as she had defined lithe arms, legs and abdomen. Yautja generally had very little body fat due to their diet and active lifestyle. What little 'chub' they do have goes straight to their posterior. Hehtk'eki hindquarter was succulently rounded, which gained her attention and envy among her young peers. Her skin was a brown-red color with dark maroon strips extending outward from her spine, give her a tiger like appearance. Like Ja'anya she had a smooth forehead, large mandibles and high cheekbones, however she a smooth fringe without any hierarchy blood in her veins. Her dreadlocks were free, spinning around her as she moved decorated with silver rings that matched her armor. Her armor was significantly less that Ja'anya's. Hehtk'eki relied heavily on speed and agility in combat that left her armor preferences to be at the bear minimum.

Neither of them had yet to develop mammary glands as they had never become pregnant, it was an odd characteristic of their species. When Paya creating their race she decided that until motherhood the females would appear similar to males. The only way to tell were slight differences that could only be observed in close proximity, hearing their voice, scent or having their genitalia on display. Females where larger than males, but a young female could be confused for an older male. So size was not always the best way to tell the gender. During mating season it was easy to differentiate the difference. The two genders produced contrasting pheromones, avoiding any 'awkward' discoveries in the bedroom. Males were obviously more attracted to older bread females due to the presence of breasts, causing younger females who had yet to develop this asset to be more aggressive in pursuing mates. Ja'anya and Hehtk'eki though didn't need or want to worry about attracting a mate or bearing cubs this early in their lives.

"I may the blessing of youthful beauty bestowed upon me, but Paya will be sure to gift you with the same endowment as your bearer," Hehtk'eki responded to Ja'anya's compliment.

"Your bearer's endowment is not something to scoff at either. You will have no problems attracting males after your first pup." The two females paused before breaking out into laughter. They were on their first hunt for kiandi amedha and they were taking about pups. The conversation shifted from the present topic to the subject of the hunt. Both were skilled and knew that they would succeed in their endeavor the only thing that needed to be discussed was how to kill the queen. The hive they were attacking was mapped by a scout several months ago, that didn't mean things were still the same. New passages could have been created, entrances closed off or rooms shifted. The kiandi amedha known for their viciousness and overwhelming numbers did have a certain level of intelligence. For drones and warriors it was fairly low, however under the command of a praetorian or queen they could be used in cunning strategies. They were discussing plans in combating a praetorian in closes quarters when a pilot came over the intercom.

"Guardian Yik'ak please come to the cockpit." The role of Guardian in the hunt was filled my experienced elite warriors who had proven more than capable to overcome any challenge. They were not to interfere or help the unblooded in any way during the hunt. As a Guardian it was their responsibility to clean up after the unblooded if they made any mistakes, to insure the honor of the hunt was maintained and the solemn responsibly to report to the family if their pup died. Yik'ak was a legend among many of the clans for his role in capturing an empress kiandi amedha. He was well desired as a breeder for this accomplishment and many other feats of skill.

"You summoned me," Yik'ak said as he entered the cockpit.

"Yes we've lost communications with the station. There is some solar activity coming from one of he nearby stars that is interfering with our system however that isn't the reason I called you here," the pilot swiveled around to walk over to a navigation screen pointing to several coordinates on the chart. "What do you make of this?" Yik'ak looked at the chart scrolling to several of the coordinates the pilot had notated.

"I don't know it's like..." Yik'ak stood back regarding the screen. He wasn't a scientist by he understood enough about the universe worked and what he was looking didn't make sense. "It's like," he zoomed out to get a better overall view, then it dawned on him, "...it's a trap! Change course immediately, get us out of the solar radiation as fast as possible." The pilot jumped back to his chair pulling hard on the controls to change course. He engaged the afterburners on the engines as they increased speed. Then suddenly all the warning lights went off at once.

"PROXIMITY ALARM! THEY'VE GOT WEAPONS LOCK!" The pilot yelled. Yik'ak quickly made is way over the to the control console punching the general alarm and picking up the intercom microphone.

"Everyone strap yourselves in, we've got a problem," Yik'ak put the microphone back down. "Who are they?"

"Don't know, can't get an identification on the ship. Did we piss off another clan recently?"

"Not that I'm aware of, have you sent the emergency beacon?"

"Their jamming us, it wouldn't do any good and this tub doesn't even have weapons. C'jit their firing."

Hehtk'eki and Ja'anya had their chair straps on and where trying to figure out what was going on. Watching the port-hole they could see that they had shifted course and increased speed, but they still didn't know why. As if to clarify their situation several bolts of plasma shot past them.

"WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!?" Hehtk'eki asked in a panic voice. Ja'anya leaned closer to the port-hole looking out watching as the stars rolled and the plasma bolts missed their target.

"Looks like," Hehtk'eki was about to make a smart as comment when their trip to hell started. There was the sound of an explosion from somewhere on the ship, it jerked violently then went into an uncontrolled spin. Ja'anya looked away from the port-hole as she started to get motion sickness watching the stars chaotically jump and spin. She hated flying with a passion. Something about being in the void of space in a vessel that could become decompressed in five seconds set her stomach on edge. Sure the station she lived on was in space, but it was protected by an outer hull that was twelve noks thick. She was thankful her mask hid her distress from Hehtk'eki. The vessel went into a controlled spin as it continued to dodge the plasma bolts.

"By who?" Hehtk'eki asked.

"Could be anybody."

"Why?"

"Kidnapping, rivalry, territorial expansion, trespassing... there could be a hundred different reasons."

"Jaaa'aaanyyyaaa," Hehtk'eki nodded to the port-hole as a green, blue and golden planet came into view. 'Oh, this is why I hate flying,' Ja'anya thought. Closing her eyes and gritting her teeth she held on for dear life, her claws digging groves into the arm rests. Hehtk'eki had started to recite a prayer to Paya. Both of them were fearless, however when it came to something they could not control or influence all they could do is hold on tight and hope for the best.

It wasn't long before the ship started to tremble in a sure sign they had reached the planet's atmosphere. This was a very bad thing though as the vessel still rolled and weaved trying to fire from their attackers. The uneven stress on the hull made the vessel groan in discomfort, as if to release the stress a loud shearing noise was heard. 'That can't be good,' everyone on board thought as they gripped tighter onto their safety harnesses.

As the gravity of the planet took hold the ship righted itself. Ja'anya risked glance through the port-hole. The ship's rumbling from atmosphere entry stopped as the sound of rushing air could surrounded the craft. The sky was blue so that meant there was a possibility of breathable air.

"Everyone hold on, we're flying with only one engine," Yik'ak yelled into the intercom. What happened to the other five? "The landing is going to be really rough." Ja'anya closed her eyes again she could still hear Hehtk'eki reciting her prayers. It calmed her a little as she focused on controlling her breathing. I felt like an eternity until Yik'ak's voice came over the intercom again.

"Brace for impact in five, four, three," Hehtk'eki's prayers stopped as she took a short inhaled and held it. "Two," Ja'anya exhaled squeezing her eyes shut. "One...IMPACT!" The ship bounced as it made impact with the ground popping right back up, sailing an unknown distance before hitting the ground again. This time it dug in. The ground was soft as there wasn't any noise of tearing metal. It was a loud rumbling, like a landslide that rolled down the side of a mountain. No crack of large boulders colliding, no breaking trees, just dirt being pushed aside by the ship. Gradually the effort of digging a trench exhausted the momentum of the vessel as it gradually slowed, then stopped.

The ship was quiet. Everyone holding their collective breaths. Then slowly the passengers realized they had not entered the afterlife yet, breathing a temporary sigh of relief. Hesitantly, Ja'anya opened her eyes. The emergency lights were on casing everything in a yellow light. She looked outside the port-hole to find they had landed in a field of golden brown grass. She looked across to see that Hehtk'eki was rubbing her head.

"You okay?" Ja'anya asked in a worried tone.

"Yeah just got a little whip lash, nothing to worry about."

"Okay," Ja'anya mind started to break through the fog that settled in during the crash. She realized that they didn't have much time before whoever shot them down would be landing near by to confirm their kill. "Hehtk'eki get yourself unbuckled and go check on the others. I'm heading to the cockpit to check on the pilot and Guardian Yik'ak. When you've got everyone together, meet me there."

Ja'anya was up and sprinting to the cockpit before Hehtk'eki could respond. The hallway was unobstructed and her mask provided night vision for where the emergency light had failed to turn on. Reaching the cockpit door she had to manually force it open by using her dah'kte. What she saw didn't improve their situation at all.

The windshield of the cockpit was broken open with a massive amount of dirt filling have the room. The pilot was most likely crushed to death under the pressure. Yik'ak was strapped to a chair further from the front, but was buried up to his stomach in dirt. She made her way carefully over to the guardian.

"Guardian Yik'ak are you alive?" Ja'anya shook his shoulder comforted when she hear a groan. He coughed up some green blood, l while pulling off his mask.

"Heiress Ja'anya, I apologize *cough* for the rough landing," Yik'ak wheezed before coughing up more blood. This wasn't a good sign, he had probably ruptured something internally.

"Apology accepted, now tell me what happened," Ja'anya commanded.

"When the pilot called me here he showed me some odd solar radiation *cough, cough* readings that were disrupting communications. It was confusing because the origin of the radiation was not coming from any star," Yik'ak paused to go into a coughing fit resulting in more blood being expelled. Ja'anya patiently waited until he had caught his breath before continuing. "Millennia ago during one of the clan wars there was a method of using satellites broadcasting solar radiation to set up ambushes. The solar radiation blocked all communications and disorientated navigation systems. Since it was disguised as a natural occurrence no one suspected what was going on until survivors reported the practice. The ambush we fell into was a textbook example of what was reported."

"So are you saying some resentful clan is attacking us for losing a war over a millennia ago," Ja'anya asked.

"No, the Prime Matriarch at the time ruled the practice dishonorable, and those who used the tactic to be exiled." Upon hearing that Ja'anya's stomach turned into a knot.

"Who attacked us?" she asked fearing the answer she would receive.

"The Black Killer Clan," Yik'ak answered solemnly. "Heiress we are no longer the hunters, we are the hunted. Our options right now are limited."

"I know," Ja'anya said, her head dipping down in defeat.

"Young one, right now it is your obligation to insure the survival of your hunt sisters and brothers. Under the circumstances I would have taken the command role, but this responsibility must fall to you." He dug down through the dirt to expose an large piece of the windshield impaling him. "Gather everything you can make use of, the Killers will be by to tally their score. When they do I will set off my akrei-non and take as many with me as I can. Here you'll need this," carefully Yik'ak detached his sivk'va-tai from his shoulder.

"None of us are blooded, it is forbidden to use such a weapon," Ja'anya exclaimed.

"The Killers will not hesitate to use the most dishonorable methods of hunting you. Use everything you can to survive," Yik'ak roughly shoved the weapon into her hands. Reaching to his belt he pulled out some extra power packs and a few supplies. "You're running out of time. Get away from the ship. Live young one," Yik'ak gave Ja'anya an encouraging squeeze on the shoulder before pushing her away.

Ja'anya held the the sivk'va-tai as if it were a new born. Knowing she was not yet worth of the weapon yet held onto it as her life depended upon it. Exiting the cockpit she headed back towards the lounge area. On the way there she ran into Hehtk'eki leading the other unblooded. When they saw her holding the sivk'va-tai they soon realized how serious the situation had become. There was dreadful pause as the realization sank in.

"Is this everyone?" Ja'anya asked, they were four short. "What happened to Sai'Aaliya, Kal'deris, Sil'cais and Lei'Tuk?"

"Gone," a male called K'on answered. "Sai'Aaliya, Sil'cais and Lei'Tuk were all in the armory. There was a hull breach and … their bodies aren't on the ship."

"And Kal'deris?"

"We found him in one of the hallways," K'on continued, "a plasma line to the engines ruptured. There isn't much of him left. What about the Guardian and pilot?" Ja'anya shook her head in the negative. She looked to each one seeing their fear and sadness at the lost of their hunt brothers and sister. She needed to make sure no one else died, she need to be a leader. Taking a deep breath she organized her thoughts.

"May their souls go peacefully to Paya's embrace. Now let us see if we may serve justice to their killers. We need to get out of here before they come looking for trophies. We're at a disadvantage here. Kra'vyx and Syl'vyx," Ja'anya turned to the twin brothers.

"Search this ship top to bottom, scrounge any supplies, extra weapons, food... anything that can help us survive, meet at the starboard entrance hatch when you're done. Go," The two brothers split off from the group on their mission. "Hehtk'eki you're the best shot out of all of us take this," Ja'anya handed her the sivk'va-tai. She was about to protest but Ja'anya gave her a deep growl to obey. "Get the starboard hatch open, then take look out. I don't want them sneaking up on us." Hehtk'eki nodded running off. Ja'anya scrutinized at the two remaining members Vi'koni and K'on.

"Which one of you is best with computers?" Ja'anya asked.

"I'd say Vi'koni is," K'on answered. Vi'koni have his follow hunt brother a 'what the hell' look before turning back to Ja'anya.

"Vi'koni, head to the data core and get the flight recorder or download the data. They set up a signal jammer and we need to that data to figure out how to get a message through. K'on go with him and see if you can find this planet in the index. We need a map of where we are and where a safe place might be, go." K'on turned to head off, but Vi'koni took a few steps before looking back at Ja'anya.

"What about you?"

"I'm going to find the emergency beacon," Vi'koni gave a nod and ran after K'on. Ja'anya let out a sigh before turning and heading back to the cockpit. When she entered she didn't look at Yik'ak she could still hear him breathing heavily and coughing. She went over the a floor panel undoing the bolts before diving into the mass of wires looking for the beacon.

"How soon before out clan comes looking for us?" Ja'anya asked.

"They'll detect the solar radiation readings and figure that we can't contact them. However, our destination would have been beyond *cough, cough, cough*. Beyond the sphere of interference so when the pilot doesn't check in they will start to worry," Yik'ak paused to catch is breath and to think. "If I had to guess, they won't send a ship to investigate until the fourth solar cycle and then two more, before they mount a search."

"We have to survive for six cycles," Ja'anya said in a matter of fact tone.

"At the minimum," Yik'ak added. Ja'anya felt her fingers finally reach the emergency beacon as she carefully unscrewed the wires connecting to it. Pulling it out she checked it for damage before tucking it under her arm. "Is their anything else in here that you would recommend taking?" Yik'ak thought for a moment before answering.

"There is a back up beacon in the floor panel next to the door. It smaller, but it'd be good to h...," Yik'ak choked on the last word before coughing up more blood. Ja'anya looked at the growing puddle of blood in front of the Guardian thinking how much he had lost, but still remained attentive. Like the first Ja'anya removed the floor panel then reached inside for the beacon.

"How much longer can you hold out?"

"A while if not, I'll set my akrei-non to detonate on a proximity sensor. So don't come back to the ship," Yik'ak's voice strained as he try to sound stern.

"Very well, may Cetanu bless you with company," Yik'ak let out a light chuckle.

"He has been a friend for years, I'm sure he'd oblige me." That made Ja'anya smile at the grim humor. Giving a nod to the warrior she left for the starboard hatch. As she made her way she glanced around looking for anything useful. She didn't find much, one of the twins must have already gone through here. When she got to the hatch there was a small pile of gear spread out so they could take an inventory in what they had. The large ship offered a lot, the only restriction was they were on the run so they needed to say light and fast. An excessive amount of gear would only slow them down. As she stepped outside she glanced at the sun on the horizon.

"Hehtk'eki is star rising or falling?" Ja'anya called out to the cloaked figure standing on top of the ship.

"Rising, haven't been here long enough to know how much daylight we have." Ja'anya engaged her cloak before jumping up to join her hunt sister. Jumping on top of the ship she noticed the damage done to the vessel. The stern of the craft was literally ripped off. Walking to the edge she could look directly into the engineering room. The frayed edge a mess of metal, wire and leaking fluids. She did a slow turn around taking in the terrain. It was flat with a few rises that just amounted to a small hill. While this provided for an excellent place to crash-land it wasn't to best place to be caught by their enemy. No cover what so ever and whatever path they took was sure to leave some sort of trail in the grass.

"Any sign of our attackers?"

"No, which worries me. They could be cloaked right over our heads waiting and we wouldn't even know it."

"Is there any cover we can get too?" Ja'anya saw Hehtk'eki's arm extend in a direction pointing her finger.

"I had to use the zoom function, but there appears to be a mountain in that direction. Its green, so the vegetation there might be different, not sure." Ja'anya focused on the area she had pointed. There was indeed a green mountain rising in that direction. Focusing as hard as she might she could not tell its size nor the distance to travel there.

"Well that's some what promising," She said scratching her chin in thought.

"Hey, Ja'anya you up there?" a voice from below called out.

"Yeah, be down in a second. Stay here," Hehtk'eki nodded in confirmation as Ja'anya jumped down. The twins stood before her going through all the stuff they had collected. Weapons, food, spare armor, air scrubbers, cooking stove, water, some tools from what was left of the engine room and a few odds and ends. "Do we have anything to pack this stuff in?" One of the twins pulled out three duffle bags.

"Ja'anya we've got the flight recorder," Vi'koni and K'on approached carrying a black cylinder about the size of a cup.

"What about the map?"

"Yeah got that too, it's on my computer." K'on motioned to the gauntlet on his left hand. Pressing a few keys on the gauntlet's pad a holographic image of the immediate area surrounding their crash site was displayed. K'on continued to manipulate the image to showing topography and vegetation as it started to zoom out.

"Wow," Kra'vyx observed, "we decided to crash in the largest open space on the planet."

"Yeah, we're sitting kcuds out here," Syl'vyx agreed with his brother.

"Look," Ja'anya pointed to the edge of the map. K'on zoomed out further showing a densely wooded area at the base of a cliff. "That's our nearest cover." K'on typed in a few commands calculating the distance from the crash site.

"It will take almost a full cycle to get there," K'on said.

"Then lets not waste anytime. Load up everything we can carry and let's go." After the order was giving supplies and gear were loaded into packs. When everyone was ready they engaged their cloaks and headed off. They figured that since they were in a large open space in terrain that was easy to leave tracks there was no point wasting the time to hide them. Their best bet would be to get to cover as fast as possible. What unnerved them the most was the fact they knew they were being hunted. Yet their hunter had yet to take advantage of when its prey was most vulnerable. When Ja'anya told them it was the Black Killer Clan that had attacked them they knew what to expect of their opponent.

The Black Killer Clan was a notorious Bad-Blood clan that had plagued their galaxies for far too long. It was said that the very first Yautja that was cast out of their clan founded the band of murderers. They lived for the kill, not the hunt. They could careless about trophies, all that mattered was thrill they got from killing a living creature. That was the least of their transgressions, over the centuries many of them had developed 'fetishes'. Some were so sick and perverse that the bounties on their heads could buy an entire planet.

It was just before the sun reached it zenith in the sky that everyone heard a faint rumble. Vi'koni was in lead and halted to listen. Everyone frozen crouching low to the ground eyes looking in all directions. After a long silence Vi'koni finally spoke.

"Did everyone hear that?" Vi'koni asked for a moment doubting his own senses.

"Yeah, what was it?" Kra'vyx asked from the middle of the pack.

"Look," Hehtk'eki pointed in the direction they had just come from. There on the horizon was something black that was rising and growing. After waiting a minute the black object continued to rise and expand as it began to take a less solid appearance.

"I think Yik'ak finally joined his ancestors," Ja'anya said mournfully. The black object was identified as smoke. The distant rumble they had heard earlier was Yik'ak setting off his akrei-non. "Our enemy is at the crash site we are not half way to the forest yet we need to pick up the pace." With out a word everyone turned and began running.

* * *

><p>"We made it," Syl'vyx exclaimed as he rested his back against a tree. The were about two hundred meters inside the treeline before they all stopped to take a breather. After they had heard the explosion and seen the smoke coming from their crash site they had really picked up the pace. The sun was a few hours away from dropping below the horizon and all of them were exhausted. Vi'koni and K'on dug around in their packs for the food rations they had packed. Once finding the brown square packets of protein and vitamins they distributed them among the six of them. Each eating greedily as they took liberal amounts of water from a canteen they passed around.<p>

After each of them had caught their breath they slowed their consumption to observe their surroundings. The forest seemed barren even with all the large tree like planets around them. It was an old growth forest were the trees were massive. Their branches blocked out most of the sun. The forest floor was heavily shaded not allowing any other growth to happen underneath the canopy. The trees were far enough away from each other to make everything seem rather open.

"So," Kra'vyx started, "what do we do now?" What did they do now? Ja'anya during their exodus was too focused on their surroundings to really think of a plan once they reached the forest. She noticed how all the others looked at her. Expecting she would have the answer to this question. They had to signal for help, that was certain. There was no way they could survive six cycles being hunted by the Black Killer Clan.

"We need to find the frequency that gets through their jammer signal. The sooner we do that, the sooner we can get out of this situation. Vi'koni, K'on work on the flight recorder see what data you can retrieve. Kra'vyx, Syl'vyx scout ahead see if you can find a well protected spot to set up camp for the night. Hehtk'eki and I will patrol this area while Vi'koni and K'on do their work. Any objections?" The group was silent. "Alright everyone to their tasks, if there's any trouble re-group here. Keep the comm channels quiet, I don't what to give them a signal to track us. Meet back in one hour."

The group departed to go their ways. As they split up Ja'anya started to evaluate her decision. She knew all the tasked she had assigned to her group were important however spreading them out over an area and not consolidating their strength made them weaker targets. She had made the call, no sense doubting her choices now.

"So how do you want to patrol?" Hehtk'eki asked walking beside Ja'anya.

"Lets retrace our trail back to the treeline. If they're tracking us it would be the best location to see them coming. Stay hidden best you can," Ja'anya leaped up into one of the trees and started jumping from branch to branch. She moved quietly and softly just as her instructors had taught her. Not disturbing a leaf or scale of bark as she traveled in the canopy. Alert and vigilant she continued to cycle through the different vision settings on her mask looking for anything out-of-place. Eventually she find a good lookout point. It had a wide view of the grassy plans they had just traversed while concealing her position with heavy leafs. One thing that puzzled her was the lack of native animals. Surely this planet had some form of life than just its fauna.

It wasn't long before she was heading back to camp. The sun was just beginning to touch the horizon and with it night would come. She hadn't seen any movement besides the wind blowing across the grass and swaying the trees. Hehtk'eki was already at the meeting point bent over looking at what Vi'koni and K'on had been working on. The twins weren't back yet which caused Ja'anya to have a little pang of panic.

"So how is it going?"

"Pain in the ass," Vi'koni groaned out. "K'on and I might be good with computers but this is way beyond our field of experience. Retrieving the data, we understand. Identifying the solar radiation wavelength being used as a jamming signal, we identified. How to distress call through it, no idea."

"It isn't just find the right frequency its being able to make it strong enough to break though as well. The way this jamming signal works is like being at an argument at a clan meeting. Everyone is so loud and overpowering that the weak voice of reason doesn't reach anybodies ears. So even if we could find the correct wavelength there would still be too much noise for anyone to hear it." K'on let out a similar groan to Vi'koni's before falling on his back looking up at the sky. "My brain is starting to hurt from too many calculations."

"I don't think any of us received any training to become an engineer or scientist," Vi'koni admitted. This made the group all breath a sigh of frustration. Despite their intense education and upbringing to become future leaders none were fully taught how to deal with this problem. The only one who could have possibly solved their problem from their original group was the pilot of the ship. A noise caught all of their attention as the whirled around to face it. Their weapons drawn, their body under tension to spring into action. Two figures uncloaked a hundred meters from where they stood.

"We found a place to camp," Kra'vyx said, the group relaxed. It didn't take a full minute before they were up and moving again following Kra'vyx and Syl'vyx. They moved through the tree tops, trying to leave as little sign of their passage as possible. After about forty minutes they had arrived at their shelter for the night. A massive tree had a twenty-four noks wide diameter at least. Its root wad stood high above the ground allowing them to hide beneath the massive tree. The large branches above also provided a good lookout point and shelter.

The sky started to darken and night was now upon them. Drawing straws they decided to would sleep and who was on watch. It was a three on, three off rotation. Ja'anya, Vi'koni and K'on were on first rotation for watch. K'on and Ja'anya decided to take lookout in the large branches above. The other stayed hidden below in the roots with Vi'koni watching over them as they slept.

It was quiet, Ja'anya could hear K'on's breathing from over a ten meters away. It was somewhat unnerving, but with this level of calm anything sneaking up on them would broadcast its position immediately.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: A nice long second chapter for sure. Wanted to add more so I could introduce the Black Killer Clan but reading through it seemed like a good spot to end the chapter. I don't what to overwhelm myself and you guys with the story. I'm pretty sure the bad guys will be the focus of the next chapter to be sure. No Mature rating yet, but its coming**

**So while doing my research on this chapter I came across a discussion board that was talking about Yautja females. One of the things they mentioned was the irregularity in their appearance. In some media they say that males and females were indistinguishable besides the difference in size, strength and genitalia (only if you ask them to pull up their loin cloth). While others say that females were larger, stronger and had breasts (aw yes, alien females must have boobs!). So, to play to both sides I decided that females don't get boobs until they've become pregnant, makes sense to me. Don't need breasts until you need to fed a pup. Then there was the debate that Yautja's don't nurse their young because the movies didn't show the males having nipples. Yet in the other media, there was the use of the phrase 'go back to sucking your bearer's teat.' So...I think at this point it's all up to creator's digression. So damn it, the female Preds in this fic will have boobs... eventually... maybe...because I don't know if they're going to have pups...whatever, don't want any spoilers.**

**Porter-Fuzz, thank you for your feed back. I'll be using the names you provided for sure. Also, while my unblooded seem a little...not bad-ass at the moment, they will be getting into their element soon enough. The whole scenario was something they were unprepared for and are adapting to survive. While it might seem pansy-ish to be calling for help so early. When you've seen the Black Killers you'll know why they want to get out of their so bad.**

**Grammar and spelling criticism is welcome as well as criticism about anything wrong with my Yautja society. Hope you enjoyed and I'll be seeing you all next chapter. Until then, Peace.**


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